The Spitfires made a name for themselves in the late ’90s and early ’00s not only for their raucous, beer-soaked live shows but also for their well-crafted rock songs. They shared stages with contemporaries like The Hellacopters, The Murder City Devils, The Black Halos, and the New Bomb Turks while winning awards from the Georgia Straight, and CFOX radio’s Seeds competition. The band toured extensively in the United States, the U.K. and Canada, but unfortunately, they’ll probably be most remembered for the night they were banned in Toronto. They continue today mostly for select live performances in Vancouver. The Spitfires have finally managed to release “Live at the Pic,” recorded by producer Howard Redekopp (Tegan and Sara, Mother Mother, New Pornographers) on his mobile recording studio at Vancouver’s infamous Piccadilly Pub in 2003. The album celebrates their 25th anniversary and the accompanying video showcases a time-capsulized look at the Canadian underground rock ‘n’ roll scene of the era. The live footage for video “Down On It” was shot via Danny Nowack (Hard Core Logo) and Doug Donut (Death Sentence) in the sweatiest, smokiest, mainstay-venue of Vancouver’s “Gunk Punk” revolution: The Pic.
Name:
The Spitfires
Genre:
Garage-Punk-N-Roll
Founded:
1996
# of Albums:
4 studio LPs, 1 Live LP, and 5 7″ Singles
Latest Album:
“Live at the Pic”
Latest Single:
Down On It
Latest Video:
Favourite musician growing up:
Joe Elliot (Def Leppard)
Favourite musician now:
Girl School
Guilty pleasure song:
Classic rock in general. Too many old rockers have bad politics nowadays.
Live show ritual:
Shotgunning beers, poking at each others’ insecurities.
Favourite local musician:
Sore Points
EP or LP?
LP, please!
Early bird or night owl?
Both! I’m an insomniac.
Road or studio?
Road, that’s where the stories are born!
Where can we follow you?
Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
Rapid Fire Vancouver Qs
Favourite local restaurant:
Sal y Limon
Favourite street in your city:
Any of the streets that take me to the beach. The beach is the only reason to live in this city.
Favourite park in your city:
Stanley Park, close to 3rd Beach.
Favourite music venue in your city:
Rickshaw
Favourite music store in your city:
Neptoon Records
